Sonoma, CA Public Conduct: Loitering Rules (2026)

010, unchanged since Ordinance 68 in 1900, bars anyone from camping, lodging, or staying overnight in a vacant lot, in any place where hay or straw is stored, or inside any building within the City of Sonoma, unless the owner or occupant has first given permission. 020, separately makes it unlawful for a person not having any visible means of support to wander the streets, loiter at street corners, hang around saloons, or be on the Plaza or at Mountain Cemetery. 030, requires anyone on a city street or sidewalk to disperse or move on when a peace officer directs it, on pain of a separate violation.

010: prosecutors may charge a violation as an infraction, punishable by a fine up to $100 for a first offense, $200 for a second within a year, and $500 for a third, or as a misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in the county jail. Because these sections date to the city's original 1900 ordinance, they apply only within the incorporated City of Sonoma, not the surrounding unincorporated Sonoma Valley communities like Boyes Hot Springs or El Verano, which fall under Sonoma County's own code and, for policing, the county sheriff.